Nov. 17, 2008

SALT LAKE CITY -

Wyoming/Colorado State Match Notes

No. 22 Utah can lock up MWC title with pair of wins

The No. 22 Utah volleyball team (20-5, 12-2) can win its third Mountain West Conference regular-season title in school history with a pair of wins at Crimson Court this weekend. The Utes will put their 12-match MWC win streak on the line Thursday against Wyoming at 7 p.m., then take on No. 15 Colorado State Saturday at 1 p.m.

Last Week

Middle blocker Karolina Bartkowiak (Aurora, Ill.) tied her season high with 13 kills and also pitched in three digs and two blocks as Utah completed its season sweep of BYU with a five-set win in the final Deseret First Duel match of the season Friday at Crimson Court.

Scouting Wyoming

Wyoming is 5-18 overall this season and 4-10 in the MWC with a 1-7 mark on the road. The Cowgirls snapped a three-match losing streak with a 3-1 win over San Diego State Friday in Laramie. Dani Bedore leads the Cowgirl attack and ranks fifth in the conference with 3.02 kills per set, while Lauren Whitney joins Bedore in the top 10 with a 2.93 kill-per-set average. The Cowgirls are getting outblocked 2.36 to 1.50 this season with JennaRae Jester leading the team with 57 total blocks for a 0.65 block-per-set average. Setter Tasha Weishahn is fourth in the MWC with 9.76 assists per set.

Wyoming Series History

The Utes maintain a 39-24 edge in the all-time series with the Cowgirls.

Last Meeting

Senior middle blocker Emillie Toone (American Fork, Utah) had 10 kills and six blocks but Utah could not avoid a three-set loss Sept. 20 at Wyoming. Toone hit for a match-high .556 hitting percentage.

Scouting No. 15 Colorado State

The Rams are fresh off a two-match homestand that saw them sweep both San Diego State and UNLV. CSU is again ranked 15th in the country and sports a 22-3 overall record with a 12-2 mark in conference play heading into Thursday's match at BYU. The Rams are 7-2 away from Moby Arena this season. Makena Barnes is second in the conference and leads the team with a 3.40 kill-per-set average, while Jamie Strauss is just .20 kills per set behind (3.20) in third place in the league. The Rams overtook the Utes for the league lead in blocks this week and are now third in the country with a 3.05 block-per-set average. Barnes leads the MWC with 1.48 blocks per set.

Colorado State Series History

Utah trails in the all-time series, 46-23, and is 12-14 all-time against CSU at Crimson Court.

Last Meeting

In the last meeting, the Utes lost the first two sets and battled back to force a fifth set, but lost this season's MWC opener Sept. 18 at Moby Arena. Lori Baird (Murray, Utah) slammed down the 1,000th kill of her career in the match.

Lucky 13

The Utes are looking for their 13th and 14th consecutive conference wins. During their 12-match MWC win streak, the Utes have outblocked their opponents 3.49 to 1.92 and held the opposition to a .129 hitting percentage, while converting at a .273 clip on the attack. This is Utah's longest MWC win streak since a 19-0 stretch from Nov. 24, 2005 to Sept. 13, 2007, highlighted by a perfect MWC record in 2006.

MWC Conference Title History

Through nine full seasons of MWC play, Utah has won a pair of regular-season titles in 2004 and 2006. The Utes also took three tournament championships during the 2001, 2002 and 2005 seasons. This will be the first year the conference will not hold a post-season tournament.

Block Party

The Utes are sixth in the country in blocking in the latest rankings and currently average 2.94 blocks per set. Baird is 18th in the nation and currently second in the conference with 1.38 blocks per set. She is also fourth in the MWC in kills per set with 3.10. Toone is third in the MWC with 1.35 blocks per set and is 21st in the last edition of the national rankings. Toone is second in school history with 602 career total blocks. She ranks third with 550 block assists and is tied with two others with 52 career solo blocks. Toone is 68 total blocks behind Turner, who is Utah's all-time leader with 670 total blocks, and is 39 block assists shy of tying Turner's mark of 589 career block assists. Baird follows closely in third place in school history with 598 career total blocks and 552 block assists. Baird needs 72 more blocks and 47 block assists to catch Turner.

Bardo In The Clutch

Bartkowiak stepped up with six kills on just seven swings in the match-turning fourth set against BYU. The Utes outhit the Cougars .400 to .128 in the set that helped Utah complete the season sweep of BYU. She tied her career high with 13 kills on 21 swings for a match-high .438 hitting percentage.

Blasting A Toone

Toone currently leads the MWC and is 11th in the country with a .404 hitting percentage. She is third on the team with 202 kills this season and has committed only 37 errors on 408 swings. Toone is on pace to break her own single-season record (.396 in 2006) and become the school record holder in hitting efficiency at .345 (588-207-1705=.345). Turner hit .326 in her career from 2000 to 2003.

Two Of A Kind

Baird and Kathryn Haynie (North Salt Lake City, Utah) are the first set of Ute teammates to have more than 1,000 career kills at the same time in school history. Baird is the club's 10th member, while Haynie became the 11th member on Oct. 9 against UNLV.

Red October (and November)

Baird and Toone claimed five MWC Player of the Week awards in six weeks from Oct. 6 to Nov. 10. Baird won the award twice in October and again on Nov. 10. Toone was named MWC Co-Player of the Week on Oct. 13 and Nov. 3.

Seeing Double

Versatility on the floor has been a component of Utah's success this season. Five different Utes have combined for 18 double-double performances this season, including a team-high six from Haynie.

20-Win Plateau

Head coach Beth Launiere reached the 20-win mark for the 13th time in her career and the 12th time in her last 13 seasons.

Haynie Recognized

Haynie was an ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District VIII First-team selection for the second time in her career.

Utes Sign Two To NLI's

Utah received National Letters of Intent from two student-athletes during the early signing period. Outside hitter Brooke McAlister (Pleasant Grove, Utah) and setter McKenzie Odale (Boise, Idaho) are both ranked in this season's prepvolleyball.com's Top 100 and will join the Utes in 2009.